Chance Meeting
by moonswirl
Summary: POV SWAP TO #32  Young Emma finds a treasure outside her school one day... and a young Will.


Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 17th cycle. Now cycle 18!

**YEAR ONE ANNIVERSARY CYCLE!** - Within days it will have been one year since I've started this Gleekathon, and I had a thought that I should do something special for it. So this is what I did: Selecting from the start of it all to the end of august (well, I had to plan! ;)), I picked my 21 favorite one shots. A number of those I was very attached to, but left sad to see may have fallen through the cracks, so it seems fair they should be recognized.

The 21 stories were split in three categories: **POV swap - Prequel - Sequel**... I think that goes without saying ;) In no particular order... **Today's story** is a POV swap on #32 "Precursor" a Will/Emma story originally posted November 22nd 2009.

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**"Chance Meeting"  
Young Emma/Will **

The girls in her class, for the most part, they'd be out with the boys of her class… or trying to be. But her… it wasn't something she wanted; she had other aspirations. Their Glee Club was competing, and that night their school would host that competition. She had always loved seeing them. She didn't perform, no… she couldn't. So at least she was there for moral support; from what she'd been hearing, one of the clubs that was coming was quite a competitor.

"Jimmy, don't forget you have to come pick me up!" she looked into her brother's room. He was lying on his bed, reading a book she was sure hid something else. He vaguely waved his hand, and that was good enough for her; she wasn't walking into that mess. Her feet carried her shuffling out the door, where her mother was waiting, to drive her to school.

She found a seat, and soon the show began. There were three clubs performing. Her school went first. They were good, they really were, though she felt they weren't at the best she'd seen them… Maybe they were nervous about the club set to take the stage last. The second club was barely a blip on the radar, and then it was time for the big act, the champs.

They were really something; she could see how they'd be some club to fear. She almost felt bad about this impulse to cheer louder for them, and she tried to control herself. The same went for the announcement of the winner… it was clear to see what would happen.

She stepped out as soon as she could; she didn't want to get pulled along in the crowd as they all exited. As she made it outside, the wind whipped her long red hair forward and her hands shot up to rein them back in. It was as she was twisting it back that she spotted something, a distance away, shining under the lamp post.

Curious now, she came down the stairs and walked over to see what it was. It had fallen in a small puddle, left over from that morning's rain, but she could see it was round and golden. She hesitated, didn't want to pick it up… She remembered the cookies she'd brought, wrapped in foil. She fished them out of her pocket, unwrapped them. With one cookie in her palm and the other between her fingers to take bites from it, she used the foil to reach in and grip the object. It was a small medal of some sort, precious. Still munching along, she took her treasure and went to sit on a nearby bench.

She kept on staring at the little thing as she finished off her cookies. It had to belong to someone here. Maybe they'd keep looking. It was a good thing she had to wait for Jimmy then, she supposed. When she was done with her second cookie, she reached in her pocket again, this time pulling out a couple napkins to wipe her hands. She paused, looking to what each of her hands now held. So, with the napkins, she cleaned the small medal. Before long, just as the first of the audience started to come out, she was able to slip the little thing into her bare palm, flip it through her fingers… It was even shinier and prettier now that it was clean. She didn't want to risk dropping it, so she put it into the small pocket on her shirt. Now she just had to wait for all the people to pass. She got to twirling the end of some of her hair around her fingers, a nervous tick.

When finally the crowd had thinned and gone away, all that was left was her… and a boy. She watched… He must have been sitting on one of the benches, just as she had, but she hadn't seen him until… No, actually she had seen him, on stage, with the winning choir… She remembered the hair. Now he was zooming about, looking at the ground.

"What are you doing?" she found herself asking. Could it be… she had to know.

"I lost something… which doesn't belong to me. My father'll kill me if I don't find it. It's a…" As he spoke, he couldn't see the excitement and how it rose up in her. Before he could finish, she reached in her pocket and pulled out the medal, holding it out for him to see. The way he stopped, she had to smile… it was him.

"Found it on the ground," she started to explain as she stood. Now she could see his face better… "I… I cleaned it up a bit, hope that's okay," she went on as she approached and he stood back up just as she held out the medal. He put out his hand and she put the small thing in his palm.

"Thank you," he smiled, putting the coin in his pocket.

"It's pretty," she commented. It could have ended there; she didn't want it to. "What is it?" she asked.

"It was my grandfather's," he started to explain. "It was his good luck charm because he found it the day he met his 'good luck woman,' that was my grandmother. He gave it to my father the day he turned eighteen… I think that's when it'll officially be mine," he gave a smile and her cheeks instantly felt warmer. "It was supposed to bring me luck in there… but it was over here the whole time." He looked down, just missing the gasping blush. She knew what he meant but still part of her chose to interpret another, like she'd been his luck.

"You didn't need it," she maintained on the medal's luck though. "You guys were really good," she nodded. She could see his eyes so clear now… She couldn't look away… Oh, she was staring… She blinked and looked down, hoping he hadn't seen how rosy her cheeks had just gotten.

"Thank you," he spoke, so she looked up. "What are you doing here?"

"Waiting for my brother to pick me up to take me home…" She saw in her head, Jimmy, that stupid smirk on his face, and her eyes turned to the road… She sighed: of course. "He probably stopped for nachos," she rolled her eyes… As clean as she was, in Jimmy's case…

"Well, we can wait for him… if you want," her head turned back to him as he spoke. Her throat would croak if she tried to speak… so then she blinked, nodded for a response. "Great," he went on and she beamed, breathing out. "I'm…"

"Frizz!" She jumped at the new voice. They both looked over and saw the loud boy at the top of the stairs. "Come on, time to hit the road!" Her heart did sink a little… so much for that.

"I'm sorry, I…" the boy looked back at her.

"Oh, it's okay," she insisted, hands waving about, though her mind just thought otherwise. "I'm sure he won't be long…" Her brother's face flashed in her mind again and she bit at the edge of her lip. "Unless he gets a slushie, too," she sighed.

"Well… thank you for finding the medallion," the boy nodded. "And cleaning it," he smirked… she felt flush.

"Sure," was all she could say…

"Frizz, for the love of… Plenty of girls to chat up on the bus," Loud Boy was loud; her boy gave a look like 'he's crazy' and she beamed.

She watched him go, his bus driving away… She sat back on her bench and she felt… dumb… She hadn't even asked his name. Her heart was pounding like never before, her mind was happy and cloudy… and she'd never see him again…

THE END

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**_[A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, story alert won't get you anything! ;)]_**


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